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Phil Saunders

@beardybirder.bsky.social

Professional bird botherer & bug chaser (not like that), based in Dorset. Freelance ecologist / leader for Wildlife Travel #LGBTQinSTEM. Mainly birds, inverts, & plants, with the occasional arty photo. All views my own.

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Phil Saunders@beardybirder.bsky.social · 3d ago

We had a blubber-filled Sunday as we said our goodbyes to the Scillonian III, on what will probably be our last day trip before her decommission - we had little of note birdwise, but it was great to see 60+ Com.Dolphin, 6+ Porpoise, multiple Tuna boils up close, several Sunfish, & a brief Blue Shark

The front end of a large white ship (the Scillonian III) is moored alongside a grey dock, with a cloud spattered blue sky visible behind.
Phil Saunders@beardybirder.bsky.social · 4d ago

A lovely day spent in West Kernow with Dorset birding friends produced great views of White-rumped & Wood Sandpipers at Drift Reservoir, plus several prs of Red-veined Darter, but best of all was my 1st (long overdue) Basking Shark which spent 1/2 an hr slowly swiming NE past Pendeen this afternoon.

A pair of Red-veined Dartwr dragonflies in cop perch on a sparsely vegetated lakeside. The male is bright red whilst the female is mainly greeny-yellow, & both insects have obvious sky blue undersides to their eyes.
Portland Bird Observatory@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social · 6d ago

This morning's been all about Willow Warblers with a whopping post-dawn rush of them: for half an hour they streamed through the treetops at the Obs and left rapidly north into the brisk headwind - got quite a shock to walk up to one of our little mist-nets in the CEF and find 33 in it. Fantastic!

BildWillow Warbler
Phil Saunders@beardybirder.bsky.social · 6d ago

It was great to see several of the locally notable micros in the Eight Kings traps on Portland on Weds night, incl'g Aethes williana, the ever-lovely Cynaeda dentalis (bringing back fond memories of my formative yrs at Dunge'), Epermenia aequidentellus, & good no's of Pyrausta cingulata #TeamMoth

A Cynaeda dentalis (Starry Pearl) micrmoth, decorated in zigzags of white, buff, & black, & closely resembling a dead grass head, rests facing upwards & viewed from the side on a yellow grass stem, against a blurred yellow & brown background.A narrow and elongated Epermenia aequidentellus (Carrot Ridge-back) micromoth rests, facing upwards and obliquely to the left, on a blue egg box. The moth is pale coloured with a handful of buff streaks and black spots.An Aethes wiliana (Silver-speckled Straw) micrmoth, decorated with cream, brown, & blueish marbling on a buff background, rests, facing left, on a blue egg box.A boldly patterned Pyrausta cingulata (Silver-barred Sable) micromoth, facing upwards, spreads its triangular black wings on a grey egg box, showing the distinctive narrow white bands running across them.
Phil Saunders@beardybirder.bsky.social · 2w ago

I've been enjoying the antics of these tiny Knapweed gall flies (Urophora quadrifasciata) in the Upton garden flower meadow over the last few days- spectacular looking little insects with a really cool courtship display #diptera

A pair of tiny, black, Urophora quadrifasciata gall flies rest on the frayed buff and lilac seedhead of a Knapweed plant. One of the flies, on the right of the image, has spread its wings in display, showing off the four bold brown stripes on each wing that give the species its scientific name.
Phil Saunders@beardybirder.bsky.social · 3w ago

A few more of the less frequently encountered/attractive species from the Upton garden moth trap this morning - the wonderfully besnouted Chilo phragmitella, the chocolatety chunk that is Wax Moth, and the always gorgeous Cream-bordered Green Pea #TeamMoth

A elongate Chilo phragmitella (Reed Veneer) micromoth rests, facing right, on top of the pale wooden wall side panel of a moth trap. The moth is sandy brown in colour, with numerous black speckles and a bushy conic 'nose' formed from its forward pointing palps.A thickset and richly brown coloured Wax Moth rests with its sharply pointed head facing downwards on a grey egg box.A broadly triangular Cream-bordered Green Pea moth lives up to its name as it rests, facing right, on a grey egg box.